Ever score on an insurance company?

[mdk2isu]

Couple years back when we had that out of nowhere massive hail storm hit WDM during the State Fair, I was at the office so my car was outside. Fortunately I had parked kind of under a tree which helped my situation I believe. Many cars in the lot were completely destroyed, broken windows, etc. Mine avoided having any broken windows, but had plenty of hail dents. It's a 2011 Camry with about 120k miles on it for reference. Ended get getting 'totaled' by insurance but I elected to keep it because its a dang Camry with only 120k on it that runs fantastic. It was my Grandparents car that I 'bought' from them after my Grandpa passed and my Grandma moved into assisted living. Ended up getting around $11,500 for the damage. Haven't fixed a lick of the hail damage because I just drive it to work or for errands so I don't care what it looks like.

 

[Tre4ISU]

Insurance is a continuing scam perpetuated on the gullible and/or the defenseless

My one claim will pay for 56 years of coverage for both of our vehicles at current rates.

 

[Letterkenny]

Wife had a car that was about 2 years old take some hail damage. Basically small indents all of the body that are only noticeable if you look close. Insurance gave us $10K for the repairs without batting an eye and we just pocketed the money. My wife wanted to get it repairs and I was like "No way, that's $10K we can spend on literally anything else and have it be more worthwhile".

 

[Tre4ISU]

Maybe I don't understand what you mean by "negative value proposition". Doesn't insurance have to be that on average you pay in more than you receive? If not where does the money to reimburse people with large losses come from?

Yeah, the "insurance is a scam" people are the "but after taxes" guy. Obviously on average people will pay more into insurance than they take out, but the point is that it protects from potential catastrophic financial events. Paying like $3000 a year to protect against the loss of $500,000 in assets just seems like a responsible thing to do, not to mention it's required.

Don't get those people wrong, either, they have insurance.

 

[cytor]

Insurance companies are not casinos. Each state requires insurance companies to be solvent, or they are kicked out. Ever seen an insurance company pay a claim when they were bankrupt? Didn't think so.

You don't have to like insurance companies, I get it. Want to get some payback from them? Buy a cash value life insurance policy and fund it properly. Trust me, you will make way more money than what you put in.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

They have very smart people they pay a lot of money to make sure they come out on top most of the time. They also have a lot of other well paid people working for them.

Even at the agent level, have you ever encountered a struggling agent?

There aren't many struggling agents because they either go bankrupt or leave the business within 18-24 months....

The guys that have businesses worked their asses off (in 95% of cases) to get where they are.

 

[mywayorcyway]

Like most of the other stories, I didn't score or get one over on them, but I did get what I felt I was owed after a fight. A tow truck shredded the side of my car while it was parked. Insurance said it wasn't totaled and sent me a check for a little over $4k. I told them no and sent the check back along with recent fixes as I had just put in a new transmission. They sent me a check for $6k. I told them no and sent it back. Told them to send another adjuster out which they finally did after 2 months. I was lucky the car was still safe and drivable even though it looked terrible. All four panels on the passenger side were crumpled.

Adjuster asked what I wanted. I said $10k. He said no. I said I'll keep denying your offer and driving it until you guys give me enough to get another comparable car. He left, company called me the next day and said $10k works, car is totaled and they're coming to get it. Great.

If the car wasn't drivable I would have been up a creek, so I guess I got lucky in that regard.

 

[qwerty]

Enough of the "my wife bought the ingredients and baked a cake for $4.37 and the store -bought one was $6.00". I want to hear about besting the man!

I drank 4 million six packs of Diet Mt. Dew and ordered a Harrier Jet to use for my commute vehicle. The soda only cost me $8 million while the jet was worth $32 million. But then I didn't get the jet when I had to leave to use the bathroom (that's a lot of soda to hold).

Well, maybe not me, but I heard a guy who talked to a guy who's dentist's neighbor's kid . . . .

 

[cydnote]

Those that don't think insurance is necessary are the same ones that go to the casino and only tell you about the times they win. And the return on the insurance is probably better than the casino.

 

[Cyched]

Glad you can afford to lose $300k overnight if your house burns down, and you can rebuild from petty cash and its no impact to your finances. I thought i was doing well, but must be a pauper.

Some insurances are indeed, "not good value", but to absolute it like that... well that is just dumb.

Even if you can afford that amount…that’s a nice chunk of cash you’d have to part with. Why not transfer the risk for pennies on the dollar?

 

[cysmiley]

On the opposite side, once in my professional career, busted a scam ring. It involved slip and fall claims. One person would go and spill liquids, another would follow and slip and fall. I was responsible for the insurance on the property, never heard any of this, except my premium jumped 100%, so I asked why and the adjuster said you've had 10 claims for 5000 settlements. WTF, I knew and called police chief, he did a sting operation, sure enough, nailed a local attorney, insurance adjuster, couple agents and about 5 people they hired to carry out the scam! Good old greed!

 

[nrg4isu]

Rather than complain, here's what I believe should change about insurance:

1) independent adjusters, remove conflict of interests
2) a ****-ton more regulation on insurance companies. No paying Caitlin Clark millions of dollars to hide profit to avoid paying taxes
3) (medical) up-front billing
4) (medical) no more "contracted costs"

 

[livinthedream]

Sold my son one of my old work trucks for 5k. 2002 7.3 F250 regular cab long box 2 wheel drive. He was parked at work and got clipped by a car trailer. They totaled it and wrote him a check for 8k. That truck paid for itself many times over.

 

[cytor]

Work comp claims is where the most fraud happens. It's very easy to pull off and hard to catch sometimes.

 

[1100011CS]

I wouldn't call it a 'score' but I was very happy with the way West Bend treated us after the tornado and derecho here in Marshalltown.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

Rather than complain, here's what I believe should change about insurance:

1) independent adjusters, remove conflict of interests
2) a ****-ton more regulation on insurance companies. No paying Caitlin Clark millions of dollars to hide profit to avoid paying taxes
3) (medical) up-front billing
4) (medical) no more "contracted costs"

Insurance is the most regulated industry in the country.

They can't even change prices without getting government approval and that's why companies are fleeing certain states.

 

[2122]

This is where Blum says 'don't forget to give Colin Newell a call'.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

I feel like I've indirectly scored. Our WDM neighborhood got nailed by hail back in 2022. The houses are all early 80's and a lot of the houses that were damaged look 10 times better now then they prior to the hail event.

 

[Pat]

Rather than complain, here's what I believe should change about insurance:

1) independent adjusters, remove conflict of interests
2) a ****-ton more regulation on insurance companies. No paying Caitlin Clark millions of dollars to hide profit to avoid paying taxes
3) (medical) up-front billing
4) (medical) no more "contracted costs"

“Hide profits?” It may or may not be a good business decision, but I believe this strategy is called “marketing.”

 

[cytor]

“Hide profits?” It may or may not be a good business decision, but I believe this strategy is called “marketing.”

It is called marketing... and based on how much money State Farm lost last year, they might want to tone down paying the athletes until the ship gets righted.